Mysteries
by SquirrelGirl13
Summary: The sequal to SotGK. Ok, Lancer knows Danny's a halfghost, but he doesn't know all. And when a new ghost shows up, worse then the last, Lancer must struggle with his past while Danny's own problems are trying to kill them. Alternating Lancer & Danny PoVs
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer_: Well, here it is! The first chapter of Mysteries. Three stories at once… I'm glad it's the summer. But on that note, don't expect quick updates after Aug 15. I will be starting my ****freshman**** year of college and I might need a bit more time for school ya know.**

**But let's forget about that now because I have plenty of time at the moment. And I GOT MYSELF A LAPTOP! So I will now be able to update on vacations! WOOT!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"No! Stop! _Heel_!"

_Crash!_

"Cujo!"

A small puppy whined up at Mr. Lancer, its sad eyes huge as saucers. The English teacher surveyed the damage. The vase was completely shattered; its broken pieces littered the floor around the small dog. Lancer raised an eyebrow and Cujo whined once more. The man shook his head and sighed.

"Where's that dustpan..."

The puppy immediately perked up, giving a short yap and, seeming to have understood the teacher, ran into the next room and returned shortly with a small blue dustpan and brush.

"I hope you didn't break anything else looking for that," Lancer said. The dog gave another guilty whine and Lancer gave a small chuckle, patting the dog on the head. "Yes, I know you're sorry. You know I can't stay mad at you."

The dog barked happily and ran off through one of the walls. Lancer bent down and began sweeping up the mess. The teacher shook his head again; that little mutt was always getting himself into trouble.

The ghost dog came bursting back through another of the walls, yapping its head off. Lancer dodged the puppy's pounce and managed to catch the pup under one arm.

It had been just five days since Lancer had adopted his new little ghost friend but he had already learned how to deal with many of the dog's antics. He believed that since his recent encounter with ghosts, some of Danny's quick reflexes must have rubbed off on him. Though he supposed it helped that he had always been a fast learner. After all, that's what inspired him to be a teacher.

Setting the dog down, he gave a little tut. "Now don't go trying to sneak up on me like that. Why don't you run along and play for a bit while I finish up here. Then maybe you can visit with Danny."

The dog responded with a very thrilled sounding bark and rushed into the bedroom, most likely to play with the teacher's slippers.

"I have to get that mutt his own pair sometime."

Grinning to himself, the man finished cleaning up the ceramic mess and, tossing the debris into the trash, picked up the phone, dialing one of the few numbers he had memorized by heart.

After a few rings there was a silent pause before, "Hello, Maddie Fenton speaking."

"Hello Mrs. Fenton. I was wondering if Danny would be able to dog sit again. I have some errands to run and little Cujo is particularly rambunctious today. He's already managed to break a vase and I was hoping your son could just watch to make sure he doesn't break any more."

It was the story that had been agreed upon. Lancer would take care of Cujo and pretend he had adopted a normal puppy, then call Danny to "puppy sit" so that Danny could spend some time with his dog. It also gave the young Fenton an excuse to be out of the house and the dog was no hindrance to the boy's ghost hunting. In fact, Cujo was actually turning out a great help to the half ghost. Not to mention, when Danny watched the puppy many of Lancers personal items were saved from the canine's seemingly endless energy and nothing Lancer said had to be a lie.

"Of course Mr. Lancer. I'll just get him on the phone for you." Lancer heard her muffled call for her youngest child and it was a moment before the phone switched hands.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Fenton. Yes, I was wondering-"

"If I'd watch Cujo. Yes, my mom told me. I think I have time today. We'll probably take him on a walk in the park so… yea, I'd be happy to watch him," Danny said. Lancer knew that that so-called "walk" meant that the trio of Mr. Foley, Miss. Manson, and Mr. Fenton were probably on the hunt for the ghost that had attacked earlier that day.

"Excellent. If you could come over as soon as you could that would be great. I think he's already chewed up half my bedroom."

"Yea, ummm… sorry about that. He _is_ still a puppy. I'll try and get him to stop. I'll be right over. Bye Mr. Lancer."

_Click_.

Danny ran into the living room, snatching his backpack from the sofa as he made his way to the door, flipping open his cell phone. "I'm headed over to watch Cujo mom! Be back later!"

"Ok, be careful sweetie!" his mother called back from the top of the stairs, "And watch out for that ghost dog!"

Danny skidded to a halt, halfway through speed dialing Sam's number. "G-ghost dog?" he stammered, "What ghost dog?"

"The one that's been following that Phantom kid lately. If it's in league with Phantom then there's no telling when he might show up and attack." His mother said placing her goggles over eyes and tucking a screwdriver into her belt.

"Oh! Uhh… ok mom! I'll see you later!" Danny rushed out the door, shutting it behind him and dashing down the road, calling Sam's cell.

"Danny?"

"Sam, you find him yet?"

"No Danny, not yet. We're staking out the fountain though. If he draws his power from water like we think, it'll be one of the first places he'll go," Sam reported. Then, "Tucker! Over there!"

There were muffled shouts on the other end of the line and Danny shouted into the receiver, "Sam! Tuck! What's going on? Are you there? _Sam_!"

"Danny get your ass over here, I think _he_ found _us_!" Sam yelled into the phone before the line went dead.

"Sam!"

But there was no answer. Danny glanced quickly around him before ducking into an alleyway and transforming.

Whoever this ghost was, he was going to get it!

* * *

And there's my first little chapter of Mysteries! Hope you all liked it! And I can say more will probably be coming soon! So look for that second chapter! 

So now I have 3 stories going on at once. I'll try and update them evenly and quickly. I'm just glad it's the summer.

Anyway, Reviews are appreciated! And so are any tips on controlling my muses. Laelia is being particularly annoying and erratic. Help!

…_and scene_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer_: Sorry for the long update wait, I had a bit of writers block with this… well… more ****like ****I've been getting ****much inspiration for my ****two ****fics**** to concentrate on this**** one. ****Damn muses…**

**Anyway! For reviewing ****the first chapter I'd like to ****specialy**** thank ****Me-****agaisnt****-the-world****, insert witty phrase here, ****broken0dream, ****fan-girls2.0, ****uula**** (I actually converted someone to a Lancer fan? I feel so special!), ****Writer's-****BlockDP, ****Manyara, ****magpie8spook, ****watashiwapikushidesu (****I know, I'm just walking dead now aren't I?), ****IscaPhantom****, and ****Arabic Blessing**** You all rock!**

**So, without further ado…**

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**Chapter 2**

Lancer glanced out his window to see a black and white streak zooming for his ceiling. Danny plunged into the house, scooping up little Cujo.

"Can't stay! Ghost!" he yelled before swooping through the ceiling once more.

Mr. Lancer stared at the spot his student had disappeared. It seemed that ever since he had discovered Mr. Fenton's other identity there had been almost no time to talk to the boy about any of what had happened. The only thing that had changed from before was that Lancer now knew what Danny was doing when he constantly disappeared during school.

Well, there was one other thing. The teacher _had_ managed to discuss the young Fenton's control problems a few days before. It seemed that with each passing day the slips became more and more spread out and erratic, which was good, except that the power that leaked got more dangerous each time. And, from what he had witnessed of Danny's powers, the most dangerous, his ecto-blast could probably decimate an entire building if he wasn't careful.

Lancer shivered, it was thoughts like those that he still hadn't gotten used to. Thinking that one of his scrawny freshman students could probably take down a building and still have energy to do more was a tad disturbing.

The man sighed. It actually seemed that Danny was trying to still keep things from Lancer and only involved the teacher in ghosts as much as required. He never transformed in front of the man unless he had to and would never explain any of the ghost attacks. I was like there was a whole other layer of secrets that the boy had, like Danny didn't want his teacher to see what he could do, and the curiosity in Mr. Lancer was getting the better of him.

Like now for instance. Normally, the teacher would never follow Danny to a ghost attack, but a part of him wanted to watch his student fight, and try to help if need be. After all, he _was_ the boy's teacher.

It wasn't hard to find him; all the man had to do was follow the screams.

"Danny! Duck!" That voice belonged to Miss. Manson. And Lancer was sure Tucker was trapped in that odd looking pod of water. It seemed Danny had also gotten himself in a pinch, he was stuck where he stood by to creeping tendrils of water that slowly were snaking up his legs while a blast of bladed water was let loose at his head. Luckily, Danny had taken his classmate's advice and ducked.

Lancer's eyes swiveled to Sam. The girl was clutched in the water blob's strange tentacle appendage. Actually, the ghost was reminding Lancer very much of an octopus.

Danny managed to aim a blast in Sam's direction, severing the limb and Sam dropped to the ground, landing hard on all fours and barrel rolling out of the spray of water the severed tentacle had become. "Next time a little warning Danny!" she yelled over at him, Danny responded with a half guilty half amused grin. "Sorry Sam!" he called. Sam rolled her eyes and made to stand, but fell almost instantly back to the ground with a curse. "Sam, what's wrong?" Danny struggled against his bonds.

"I think I busted my ankle!" she answered with a grunt as she tried again, unsuccessfully, to stand.

It was then that, with a roar, the ghost spouted a new limb for himself. "Oh great." Danny mumbled to himself. Sam glared at the ghost. "It would have been nice to know that before!" she shouted up at it as the limb came speeding towards her. Danny's eyes widened.

"_No_!"

"Look out!"

Lancer rushed towards his student, going on adrenaline alone and grabbed the teen out of the way of the tentacle just as it made contact with the ground, spraying them all with water from the impact.

"Mr. Lancer?" Sam and Danny asked at the same time. A muffled sound to the same effect seemed to come from the water pod nearby.

"Are you alright Miss. Manson?" the teacher inquired. Sam nodded with a frown. "Yea I'm fine. What're you _doing_ here?"

Danny was stunned. He didn't know Lancer had been watching. But he was glad that Sam was safe for the moment.

But that though was shattered as the ghost brought two of its tentacles speeding towards each other to sandwich Sam and Lancer in between.

"Shit! Look _out_!" Danny yelled, ripping himself free of his bonds.

Lancer covered his head on instinct and Sam flinched, unable to move out of the way. The teacher realized at the last moment that he probably would have been better off grabbing the teen and taking cover. That was when Danny appeared, creating an ecto-shield that circled around the three, saving them from both the attack and the spray of water following.

"A little late, huh Danny?" Sam asked.

"Eah, thought I'd build up the dramatics."

Lancer couldn't tell if the boy was joking or not, so he decided to just believe he was.

At least… he _hoped_ he was.

Pushing that thought aside, Lancer yelled over the roar of the water ghost, "So how do we beat this thing? It just keeps regenerating itself!"

"We?" Sam muttered in his direction, "Since when are you factored into this?" The teacher pretended not to hear as Danny gave his comrade a warning glare.

"Not _now _Sam," he whispered.

"I'm just saying-"

"Anyway!" Danny said loudly, letting down his shield as the waterpus' attention was on an extremely wet and irritated black squirrel chattering angrily at it. (He never thought he'd be thanking a squirrel for a diversion.) "Mr. Lancer has a point. How do we beat this thing?"

But there wasn't time for anyone to give and answer. In its fury at the mad rodent that was now chucking acorns at the specter, the waterpus flailed its tentacles around, deflecting the projectiles at the three bystanders at top speed.

Danny shot a flurry of smaller shots at the acorns speeding towards his head before launching himself at the ghost full speed, ecto-blasts blazing while the squirrel proceeded to dart away, deciding to leave this big creature alone.

"It's head!" Sam yelled up to the young halfa, "Danny go for the head!"

Lancer looked hard at the ghost. Inside the watery head seemed to be a brain of some sort. "She's right Danny!"

"Like we needed your conformation," Miss. Manson muttered to herself. Lancer again pretended not to hear.

"Right," Danny said to himself, shooting himself at the space between the ghost's four eyes and rocketing through to the center of the head where there was a small ice crystal.

No.

It only _looked_ like ice. The thing was like steel in strength and Danny had to power up a stronger blast to take it out.

"Sorry pal, but I'm not too fond of seafood."

_Bam!_

Water sprayed everywhere as the ghost lost its form. Dropping into a rather large puddle, Danny saw Tucker fall to the ground, finally released from that pod. An irritated bubbling came from underneath Danny's feet and the teen took the thermos from a very wet and disgruntled Tucker to suck the last traces of the ghost up before transforming back into his human half and turning to his English teacher.

"Mr. Lancer? What are you _doing_ here?"

"I was, just wondering why you had to fly in and out of my house so quick. By the way," the man scanned the area curiously, "Where _is_ Cujo?"

Danny's eyes widened, remembering what had happened to the puppy.

"My parents! We have to go get him!"

"Wait! What!" Lancer yelled, but Danny had already took off across the park and his two classmates, plus the teacher, had to sprint full speed to catch up.

"Danny, what happened to Cujo?" Mr. Lancer panted, worry etched on his face.

"I was on my way to help Sam and Tuck when my parents attacked from nowhere," Danny explained as the scenes flashed through his head. His parents had practically snuck up on him and Cujo, due to his not paying attention. Cujo had gone on the defensive and fought back while Danny had trusted the dog to handle it and sped off to take care of the waterpus.

Stupid _stupid_ move Fenton! Now his parents probably had Cujo hooked up to some machine of theirs and were experimenting on the poor puppy right then.

The teen put on an extra spurt of speed and transformed again as he neared his house.

He had to get Cujo back.

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So, whada ya think! I heart reviews. Flames and all that jazz are acceptable too, they make me laugh. 

Catch ya on the flip side and look for an update of NWTA next. I'm actually going in an order! WOOT!

_…and scene_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer_: Ok, so last time I lied; I No Ur Secret is the one updated after this. Sorry about that.**

**On another note, I got to see Phantom Of The Opera yesterday and it was simply AMAZING! Oh my god it was awesome! And my muses are now begging me do do a story like that plotline… I'm ignoring them so they aren't happy with me… heh...**

**Anyway, review props to****EctoChameleon, ****fan-girls2.0, ****IscaPhantom, ****Manyara, ****acosta perez jose ramiro, ****broken0dream****, FCC, watashiwapikushidesu, ****EmoGwyddoniaeth2****, and ****blackkaosrose**** (Yes, I am building up to my actual plot. It will come into play in the next chapter don't worry… my muses are just going about it all ****in a strange way). You all get C****ujo cupcakes! They're sooo CUTE!**

**… and ONWARD! **

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**Chapter 3**

Mr. Lancer was panting like a dog when they reached Danny's house. The teen had left him and his friends in the dust and the English teacher was not the most fit man in the world. He clutched a stitch in his side as he slowed to barely a jog, Miss. Manson and Mr. Foley pulling ahead of him easily; they obviously got more running in with those ghost fights.

Tucker looked over his shoulder in curiosity but Sam just put on another burst of speed, calling over her shoulder, "Do you _care_ about Cujo or not?"

Instead of answering, the teacher put to work his very last ounces of energy and ran to catch up.

He hoped Danny wasn't too late. The situation with Eclipse showed how hard he took it when people around him were hurt. He couldn't imagine what would happen if the boy lost Cujo, or anyone he fought to protect.

The teacher's mind drifted back to the first class he had taught after the entire episode. Dash had returned to class and there was palpable tension between him and Danny. Lancer was proud of all the restraint the boy put on himself, considering he knew a couple other students, past and present, who wouldn't be so nice with those kinds of powers.

His mind flashed back to the boy with a mop of brown hair that frequently haunted his dreams; he shook his head. It could have been _so_ much worse.

But Danny was a good kid; he wouldn't put anyone in danger for his own selfish reasons. He only put himself in danger, though that wasn't much better. And the teacher still hadn't figured out how to fix that. Yes he was pleased that the boy had turned out such a hero, but the child put himself in so much danger.

Maybe if there was a way to… split him into a human and a ghost… Danny would protest at first of course but… once he realized that he could leave all the fighting to his ghost half…

There was ghost weapon gunfire from inside the Fenton house and the teacher stumbled to a halt, bumping into his two students.

Danny!

(**Seconds earlier**)

Danny shot through the ceiling of his house, landing in the living room probably at the worst possible moment he could have. His mother and father were just coming in from the kitchen, presumably to grab the ghost weapons on the couch. Danny recognized the one Mr. Lancer had used to knock Eclipse into the ghost zone. He gulped; the others were probably even worse.

"Phantom!" his dad hollered as the ghost sensors went off. Here for that dog of yours eah ghostie!" His mother cocked a rather large ecto-gun in his direction.

"Oh crap," Danny muttered before addressing his parents, "Yes, I'm here for my dog can I uhh… _please_ have him back?"

"No!" his dad yelled as his mother simply fired blasts at him in rapid succession. Danny dogged them all but forgot to pay attention to his dad who fired a glowing green net in his direction, catching him from behind and causing the halfa to go crashing to the ground with an "oomph."

"Oh perfect," he muttered into the oddly fresh smelling carpet. Did his mom just clean it? She's not going to like the blood stain his busted lip left… unless she tests it or something. Oh crap… would is blood look different than a ghost's?

Wait… ghosts didn't have blood.

Just great.

As these panicked thoughts went through his mind his parents had used ghost handcuffs on his wrists and ankles and his father dragged him along the carpet, across the tiled kitchen, and down the stairs, his behind bumping painfully on each step. "Hey could you ease up a bit? Aren't there child abuse laws or something?"

"Not for you ghost," Jack said, looking pleased with himself. "We finally caught the ghost boy Maddie!"

"I didn't think he would come for that creature of his," Maddie replied, her gun still pointed at Danny as his dad bodily shoved him into a clear containment pod that forcibly and very unhappily reminded him of the one he was stuck in by Vlad, except this one was silver with the Fenton logo plastered across the front. Danny struggled against the chains he was being forced to wear, his eyes landing on little Cujo hog-tied on a nearby table.

"You've got me!" he yelled through the glass, "Let the puppy go!"

"And have him tear up our entire lab?" His mom scoffed. "Do you really think we'd fall for that Phantom? No. You're both staying right here."

"Can we dissect him now Maddie?" his dad asked in earnest.

"Just hold on Jack, I want to dispose of this other one before we work on Phantom. His powers interest me. How he can transform between older and younger forms… fascinating!"

Wait till they figure out what I can do, Danny thought dryly. He gave a small grin that was quickly killed by Cujo's pleading howl.

"No! Please! _Don't_!" he cried, struggling harder against his bonds. He thought hard of a way to escape… the entire structure neutralized his ghost powers. There was only one power left to him.

He could transform.

* * *

Yea, had to get this quickie up for you guys before I became totally useless when my Harry Potter book arrives. It might even come today! Whoopie! (_Dances around like the dork she is in a Hogwarts shirt with house buttons all over an Order of the Phoenix (received on release of the book) hat clutching an original before the movies Harry Potter pillow)_

_You really are a dork…_

Shut up Lamia!

Well, reviews are always appreciated! Taah! (_Runs off to wait for the UPS guy_)

…_and scene_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimer_****: Holy (_CENSORED_) I LOVED DEATHLY HALLOWS!!! **

**_Is your CapsLock key stuck or something? _**

**Lamia not even _you_ could ruin my loving of the book. Finished the whole thing in 7 hours! Gah! I'm still geeking out over the ending battle! GAAAHHHH! If anyone wants to talk about it you can PM me or review on my Harry Potter oneshot. **

**_Loser._**

**Ignoring that! So, many gracious review thanks to DarkDannyPhantom, Manyara (Don't count you eggs before the chickens lay them), acosta perez jose ramiro, fan-girls2.0 (That's why we order two copies… one for me and one for my brother ), Me-agaisnt-the-world, Writer's-BlockDP, blackkaosrose, Phantom Shade, EmoGwyddoniaeth2, broken0dream, watashiwapikushidesu (I'll tell you all 'bout Chris soon enough… the story's just getting started), Em Phantom, kennyk12 (What happened to the elephants?), and Moony's Metamorphmagus (I _love_ your name!). You all simply rock like Deathly Hallows! Yay! **

**_Mega dork alert!_**

**Shut it! **

**And now onto the chapter my homies! Bwahahahahahahaha! **

**_What are you ON? _**

**Book euphoria! Nya! **

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**Chapter 4**

Lancer, Sam, and Tucker had run into the house without thinking. Stumbling through the front door just as Danny was being dragged downstairs. So intent on their captive, the Fenton adults didn't even register the new arrivals.

Lancer stopped abruptly and looked around himself. He hadn't been here since that final fight with Eclipse, and frankly, he didn't want to be in the middle of anything like that without first getting his bearings. He remembered that the door that his student had just been dragged through lead to the Fenton's lab, where that giant ghost portal stood, the last place he had seen Eclipse.

Lancer shivered.

"Tuck, what're we going to do? They won't let him go," Sam said, searching the living room like it would yield up battle plans working to their advantage.

"I don't-" but the tech-geek stopped mid sentence and the teacher turned to see what was wrong. A fiendish grin spread over the boy's face. "I got an idea."

* * *

Danny took a deep breath. 

"Mom. Dad." His parents spun to face him, confused. "I-"

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton!" Tucker yelled, running down the stairs, Sam close behind, "Come quick!"

"Tucker?" his mom stammered, giving a small glance at Danny. "What's wrong?" She blinked at them and something dawned on her. "Where's Danny?"

"We think he's been taken!" Sam said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "By a ghost!" Danny had to admire her acting; his parents totally fell for it.

"Come on Maddie!" his dad yelled, hoisting his ecto-gun onto his shoulder. "_No one_ messes with _our_ boy! Lead the way kids!"

With a fleeting look at Danny, Sam and Tucker nodded and shot back up the stairs, the Fenton adults not far behind, leaving the halfa alone in the basement.

"Now how do I get out of here…?" But no matter how he looked at it, there wasn't a way to get his bonds off of him, ghost or human.

"Just peachy."

* * *

Lancer cringed as the group rushed past, hoping that nobody would notice his hiding place. But, yet again, the Fenton adults were too intent of their son to pay any notice to the balding, middle-aged English teacher crouching under their kitchen table. 

"My back isn't going to feel so good tomorrow," Lancer mumbled, crawling out from his hiding spot, massing his spine.

He stretched and made his way to the basement, scanning the area for a sign of his student. But that wasn't necessary; the giant pod in the center of the room was rather obvious.

"Danny?"

"Mr. Lancer?" came the muffled reply. Lancer ran around to the other side of the device and spotted Cujo strapped to a table, wining sadly.

"Cujo!"

"Mr. Lancer!" Danny cried, laughing slightly. "Man, you, Sam, and Tucker just saved me a lot of explaining!"

"What?" Lancer asked, undoing Cujo's bonds. The puppy leaped up and proceeded to clean the teacher's face.

"Never mind, just help me out of this, kay?"

"Alright," Lancer said, examining the machine. "How?"

Danny blinked. "Isn't there a button or something?"

Lancer spent about five minutes searching, Danny giving him suggestions on the best places to find the elusive button. But there seemed to be no device, stationary or remote, to open the machine.

"Dad must've taken it with him," Danny said, worry on his features. "Now what?"

Lancer sat on the floor, his back against the glass, Cujo let out a sad howl at his side looking downcast. Lancer gasped and looked up at the puppy then at Danny who seemed to have gotten the same idea.

"Hey boy, wanna do us a favor?"

"_Brrow?_"

"Now remember to stay clear of anything that goes flying through the air!" Danny warned his teacher. The man backed behind the massive dog preparing to demolish the ghost pod.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" he asked, worry slipping into his voice. Danny rolled his eyes.

"I'll be fine sir," the boy reassured him, giving a faint smile though neither knew the anti-ghost capabilities of the pod.

"Alright then… Cujo… _go_!"

The ghost canine took a few good swipes at the containment pod, scrap metal flying through the air. Then the machine exploded and the dog reverted to its puppy size, Danny's boddy flying through the air and crash landing on the genetic pad for the ghost portal. The doors whooshed open and for one terrifying moment, the English teacher though he saw Eclipse soaring out and through the roof. Shaking his head to clear the image, he rushed forward to help his student, the teen managing to close the portal again in the process.

"Don't want any more ghosts out there than need to be," he joked, giving a half grin as he stood shakily, his teacher catching his arm in support. In the blast he had reverted back to Danny Fenton and Lancer was worried about the nasty marks around the boy's wrists. Those restraints had been far too tight.

"Will you be alright?" Lancer asked, Cujo bounding up to them. Danny laughed.

"I've lived through far worse. I can handle slight bruising. I'm already feeling better!" He smiled that carefree smile of his and laughed as Cujo pawed his pants worriedly, kneeling down to pat the dog assuredly on the head. "I'm fine little guy." The dog barked at him, wagging his tail.

A door slammed upstairs.

"_Danny_!" Jazz screamed, her voice echoing through the entire house. "Mom and Dad are tearing up the town looking for you! You better get out there somewhere!"

"_Thanks Jazz_!" Danny called up to her, rolling his eyes. "Ten minutes and they're already causing trouble looking for me. Guess I should feel good about that… right?" He laughed. "I'll give you a ride home and go find them, kay?"

Danny transformed and Mr. Lancer took a hesitant look at the ceiling.

"You mean… umm… fly? Well I don't kn-" But Danny had already scooped up Cujo and placed him in his protesting teacher's hold, grabbing onto the man's shoulders and lifting him into the air.

"Oh I _hate_ flying," the teacher mumbled as they broke into open air, Danny stifled a laugh. How anyone could hate flying was way beyond him. It was the freest feeling in the world, and probably won his favorite power award. He would have done a few midair flips if not for his teacher.

Suddenly, there was a scream from below and Danny looked down. Some sort of large hairy thing with eight giant legs was attacking the street and sending Amity's citizens fleeing in fear. Just one girl was left behind and with a jolt, Danny realized that it was his parents' friends' daughter, Jessica, paralyzed with absolute terror at the creature before her as it came scuttling in her direction, clicking it pincers menacingly.

"Fantastic."

* * *

(_Shudders_) Urg… spiders… not even going to say how much I hate them. I'm getting freaked out just typing about them. (_Shudders again_) Glaahhhh! 

Ok… sorry 'bout that. Hope I have you all on the edge of your seats 'cuz I am starting to hurt my fingers with all this typing. Two stories in one day! Woot!

Reviews, flames, whatever! Bring it on! WAAHHHH! (_Waves around a stick like a wand_)

_Ok that's it! No more books for you!_

_But she's so happy!_

_No, Laelia, she's insane._

Hehehe! (_Sings 99 Death Eaters Go By)_ (_Gets hit on the head with Deathly Hallows_)

(Frowns) _What're you looking at?_

..._and scene_


	5. Chapter 5

_**DISCLAIMER:**_** I'm SOOOOOOOOOO eternally sorry for the ginormous wait time for this chapter! College has just been eating away at my free time. On the up side, I have started a D&D game as well as a LARP so at least I have been having some fun right?**

_**I think they would have rather had the chapter but I am simply a penguin so I have not much knowledge of the ways of your peoples.**_

**Stop **_**badgering**_** me Incognito Bob! I'm working on it! Anyway! … Heh… Badger badger badger badger MUSHROOM MUSHROOM! (**_**gets stares)**_** Umm… (**_**cough) **__**Anyway**_**, for those of you who haven't looked at my profile, I have put NWTA on hiatus until further notice because I don't believe I will have time to finish it and make it the best it can be at this moment in time. However, it is by no means abandoned. I plan to finish it eventually… I just don't know when…**

**And yes, Jessica was that girl from SS (SotGK in Danny's PoV). I figured I'd use her again as she's not a very big charecter and I didn't want to say "the random girl" the whole time.**

**SO! Without further ado: (**_**deep announcer voice)**_** THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

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* * *

**

**Chapter 5**

Within seconds Lancer was on top of the nearest building, Danny rocketing away to save the girl that was being attacked by the giant creature. Mr. Lancer had recognized her as one of his older students, remembering that the girl had a terrible phobia when it came to spiders. She appeared to not even be able to scream from fear. She merely stared, wide-eyed and terrified at the monstrosity that bore down upon her.

Danny's bright emerald blast sent the creature into a wall. Lancer thought he heard it utter a cold chuckle before somehow righting itself and scuttling lightning speed at Jessica, the girl attempting one trembling step back and falling helplessly on her behind. Lancer was scared, not only because of the giant spider threatening to eat one or more of his students, but because Jessica, normally such a strong girl, was too afraid to even speak. It was hard for him to see anyone, especially one of his responsibilities, this utterly helpless.

Danny sped forward, scooping Jessica up in his arms mere moments before those giant pincers sliced through the air where she had been seconds ago.

"Are you alright?" he asked, standing Jessica gently on the ground. The girl didn't respond, mutely staring at the spider in fear, her arms wrapped like a blanket around herself. "Jess?" Danny tried in a whisper. Jess swallowed hard and shook her head, her eyes tearing up. Danny frowned; he never liked seeing girls cry. "Jess?"

The spider leaped at the two and Danny had to switch his attention to the monster, giving it an uppercut to the jaw. It recovered and lunged again, but Cujo, whom the boy had temporarily forgotten about in his rush to save Jess, intervened, tackling it into the air and sending it flying over a building and out of sight. Danny flew after it, intent on ridding it from the town for good, but as he soared over to where it obviously landed he saw nothing to suggest where it was. Confused and a bit worried, he flew back to Jessica, landing in front of her and placing his hands on her shoulders. Cujo was back to puppy size and pawing at her feet.

"Jessica? Jessica, are you ok?"

Jess seemed to shake herself, her eyes still gleaming with tears she was desperately trying not to let fall. "Where is it!" she asked panicked, "Where'd it go!"

"Away for n-"

"But it's going to come back!" she screamed, "It _will_ come back. You hurt it and it's going to come after you too! It might even have others!" She shook her head vigorously and wrenched herself out of Danny's grip, tripping slightly over Cujo and taking off down the street. Her feet stumbled over a down light post and she cursed loudly, the tears finally falling from her eyes as she struggled back up shivering from fear.

Danny looked over at Mr. Lancer, at a loss of how to comfort the girl. But Lancer had already made his way over, placing an uncertain hand on the girl's back. She looked up at him and blinked, shaking his hand off as she furiously wiped the tears from her eyes. "I don't know what came over me. I- I'm sorry. I-" She swallowed hard and turned to Danny with a half-smile. "Thank you, Phantom… err… Danny?"

Danny blinked, taken aback at the gratitude in her voice. He had never really gotten thanked that _personally_ by anyone outside Sam, Tucker, and his family. "Uhh… you're welcome."

Jessica laughed. "You know, you sound just as awkward as a family friend of mine. It's cute kid." She smiled before turning to Mr. Lancer. "Our paper's due on Monday correct? What are you doing here anyway?"

Lancer blinked in surprise at the total frankness in her voice before managing to answer. "Y-Yes your final draft is due Monday. I live around here."

"Okie dokie! See you then! Thanks again ghostie!" She waved over her shoulder as she tore off down the street, a smile firmly plastered on her tearstained face.

"She is _so_ strange," Danny mumbled. Lancer gave him a look and the boy blinked. "What?" The teacher just shook his head. The boy's definition of strange was strange in and of itself.

Suddenly, Cujo barked loudly and ran off down the street, his nose sniffing everything in his path.

"Cujo? Cujo!" Danny yelled, "Get back here boy!" The dog stopped and turned to the two, barking once more as if telling them to follow. Lancer and Danny shared a look before Danny shrugged, transformed back into his street clothes, and took off after the puppy, Lancer following.

They ran for a good few minutes before Cujo rounded into another street, whimpered to a halt, and ran back to take refuge behind Danny's pant leg. Lancer skidded around the corner and stumbled to a standstill.

A tall thin man stood there, a twisted smile on his thin-lipped face. He wore a white lab coat over slacks and a blue collared shirt. But what caught the teacher's attention the most was the giant needle full of an unidentifiable substance in his right hand. The man paid no attention to either Lancer or Danny, but leered straight at the puppy attempting to crawl into Danny's pant leg.

"Here dog," he called, walking slowly towards the dog. His voice reminded Lancer of one of those creepy mad scientists in the movies. "Here boy. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Come on boy. That's a good dog." He lowered the needle in the direction of the puppy and Cujo whimpered loudly; Danny's face turned to stone.

"What the hell are you doing to my dog!" He took a step forward, now nose to nose with the man. Or, he would have been had Danny been about half a head taller. "Back off!"

Cujo ran to Lancer, who scooped the puppy up in his arms. It wasn't right to scare an animal this badly. The dog was trembling in the teacher's grasp.

"Relax child, I am a professional." The man abruptly shoved Danny out of the way and closed the gap between himself and Mr. Lancer. "Now give me the mutt." His voice went much deeper and raspier; his had grasped greedily for Cujo.

Lancer had no idea what came over him. Maybe it was the fact that the man had just called little Cujo a mutt, or maybe it was the tone of his voice, or maybe it was just the fact that Cujo was so terrified. Whatever it was, Lancer did something he had never done in his life.

He punched the man straight in the face.

There was the crack of broken bone and the man stumbled back clutching his mug, blood gushing from between his fingers. Danny stood there half-amazed and half-elated, his jaw practically hitting the ground.

"Stay away from the dog!" Lancer said, clutching the puppy closer to keep him from squirming away. "Or next time I'll hit you where it hurts."

The man glared daggers at the teacher, his eyes gleaming red. "Aal geb ooh fur tis!" he threatened, spinning on the spot and disappearing, his voice still echoing around the three. "Jus ooh ait!"

There was a long silent pause before Danny found his voice.

"Go Mr. Lancer!"

The teacher turned to his student and placed Cujo in the boy's arms before grimacing in pain. "Oooww!" He shook his hand and massed the knuckles. "That probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had."

"It rocked!" Danny said, nearly laughing. He never expected his English teacher to do something like that. "I mean… wow!" The teacher gave a miniscule half-grin and Danny laughed again before turning to the spot they had last seen the creepy thin man. "Well, I'm guessing that was some sort of ghost," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "Now I have to chase after that spider thing _and_ this crazy guy." He sighed, thinking off all the sleep he was going to lose. "Well," he shook his head and transformed, "Better get to work. Cujo, stay. Bye Mr. Lancer." Danny waved and took off for the Nasty Burger. For some strange reason, everything seemed to always happen there so it seemed just as good a place to start as anywhere else.

Lancer turned the lock on his door, opening it and stepping aside so Cujo could run in. He smiled slightly. The dog had really grown on him.

He walked to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and saw Cujo digging through one of the cabinets above the sink. As soon as Lancer walked in the dog slipped, toppling a box of Cheerios and sending himself and three bowls crashing to the floor. The teacher darted forward, making a grab for Cujo and bracing himself under the assault of cereal and ceramics. Luckily, the bowls had all missed the teacher, though he now had a large amount of heart healthy breakfast food down the back of his shirt.

He gave the puppy in his arms a look and the dog whined guiltily. "You'd better be the one to fetch the dustpan."

The dog scrambled quickly out of his hold and into one of the lower cabinets, coming back with the dustpan that had been used earlier that day. Lancer sighed. He should get one for every room at this rate.

An hour later the teacher was relaxing on his couch, the Discovery Channel playing on his TV with Cujo in his lap when Danny came falling through his roof and tumbling to the floor in a heap. The teacher jumped to his feet, upsetting little Cujo, and raced over to the boy.

"Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked, his vision slightly blurry before he shook his head to clear it, "I was just about to drop in."

"What happened?" his teacher asked as he paced a hand on the teen's shoulders.

Danny opened his mouth to respond but didn't get the chance before a portion of the roof disintegrated in a giant red blast. Lancer and Danny both rolled out of the way as the ball of energy slammed into the floor and rolled out the wall and down the road.

A figure dropped through the ceiling and crouched predatorily on the carpet. Its hair was a blue fire and his chin was long and rounded. Danny thought he looked suspiciously like… _Hades_?

"I shall destroy," he paused and his eyes glowed menacingly and his hair flared up, "_everything_."

"Great," Danny mumbled, "Disney is going to kill us all."

* * *

I know that's a strange ending but it will make sense later I swear! Unless you've already figured out what I'm doing then congratulations, aren't the people of Amity strange? 

_I think you might have just given it away…_

… Shut up Lamia.

Anyway, again sorry for the long wait and I shall try to update INUS soon.

Fare thee well!


	6. Chapter 6

**_Disclaimer_: Wow... well that was a long wait. I'm going to be apologizing for that for the rest of eternity. I am back from school and free all summer though so the waits shouldn't be long at all from now until around the end of August.**

**So, big thanks to all my reviewers. I don't have time to list all your names because I have class soon and I want to get this up here as soon as possible. But everyone who reviewed last chapter is amazing. Thank you for putting up with the long wait time.**

**And now onto the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Suddenly the creature paused, smirking as it stood. "You!" he hissed gleefully, "The man from before. Don't think I forgot you." He gave a wide predatory grin. "You and the boy shall pay for your resistance!" he yelled as a large glowing red orb appeared in his hands, growing larger by the second.

Lancer made to run but some sort of energy stuck his feet to the floor. Danny seemed to be having the same problem as he struggled to move.

"Damnit!" the boy yelled as the floating cartoon character launched his sphere, now half the size of the room, at them.

In a flash the two were dropped from the sky and landed hard on the ground, tumbling into each other. Lancer got up, massing his back and squinting into the dark as Danny scrambled to his feet. Apparently, he had transformed back into his human self in the blast.

"Where are we?" Lancer asked the boy. Danny shrugged and walked forward a few paces.

"I don't exactly know," he admitted.

At his words, light flared up around them and the two found themselves in a large room, so large in fact, that they couldn't see the end of it in any direction. The floor was a turquoise color wood and in the room was the oddest assortment of things. There was a lake nearby and a desk not too far to their left with a large assortment of papers stacked upon it. There were portable chalkboards set up all over with quotes Lancer recognized from great literature and books piled high all around.

"Well wherever it is… it has good tastes," Lancer said, nodding approvingly at the books. Danny laughed and walked on ahead.

"Well we should probably find a way home anyway. _I _don't want to stay here my whole life."

"I suppose," Lancer replied, following Danny further into the room. "But why that ghost thing sent us here is far beyond me."

"Well," Danny said, hopping over a large sausage on the ground (Mr. Lancer gazed longingly at it as they passed), "From what I've seen of that ghost he apparently can change shape into what a person fears the most: spiders, vets… and apparently Disney villains." He stopped and turned to his teacher. "So we'd better be on the lookout, because I don't think he's trying to scare us with books and meat… though I'd admit the books are far too many."

"I've read a lot of these," Lancer commented absentmindedly, "Actually I believe I've read most of them." He picked up one and grinned. "_Enders Game_… I remember this. I had the best time reading it one summer. I remember sitting out in my cousin's yard on her…"

Just then the lake started glowing blue and a pair of trees appeared in front of the two a hammock strung between them.

"… hammock," Lancer finished lamely, "What in the _world_?"

"It's like it responded to your thoughts," Danny observed. "Like, if I thought of say… that cheeseburger I had for lunch…" Danny looked at the lake expectantly, but it remained as calm and clear as it had been when they had arrived.

"Or I could be wrong," he said, a bit disappointed, "It's been known to happen."

Lancer clutched his book and flipped through the pages as they walked on. He smiled to himself; he had quite enjoyed this book.

Danny strolled over to the lake and looked in. The surface was crystal clear, but something about it was odd. With how clear the surface was, Danny should have been able to see straight down to the bottom of the lake. But he couldn't, and the clearness just seemed to go all the way down; though the water didn't get darker as it should the deeper it went. Danny reached out to touch the water. His hand stopped the surface, which felt like a solid barrier.

Lancer put down the book on the stack he had found it. As he did, the trees and hammock next to Danny evaporated and the surface of thee water rippled slightly.

"I have a feeling this lake is how things get in and out," Danny called to Lancer, "But it's completely solid."

Lancer walked over and glanced into the lake, reaching out to the water as well. His hand slipped easily into the water.

"Doesn't seem to be solid to me."

Danny scowled and tried again, but his hand still only got as far as the surface of the water. Growling slightly, he stood and made to step on the water.

It was like stepping on solid ground.

He placed another foot cautiously down and walked, first slowly, then quickly to the center of the lake. He turned to smile at Lancer.

"Check it out! I'm Jesus!"

"You'd think a kid who could fly wouldn't find this much amusement in walking on water," the teacher muttered to himself with a smile, shaking his head. Danny shrugged and walked back to Lancer.

"I wish we could get a higher advantage on this place. Get a good look arou-" But before Lancer had finished, Danny had transformed with a grin, floating up in the air.

"Oh no! Lancer protested, shaking his head, "You go. I'd prefer to have my feet on something solid thank you very much."

Danny shrugged and flew upwards into the sky that was in place of a ceiling.

This place was odd like that. There still seemed to be no walls, just areas of differing light and sky.

There was the sky Danny was floating in, but there were different skies as well. One sky far off in the distance behind Mr. Lancer looked like a giant shiny mass of light. Under it, were houses and cars of very different designs, people roamed about and everything seemed calm and serene. A little behind all this, still under the same sky of golden light, was what looked like a city out of several different comic books. There was the Daily planet building from superman, but Wane manor was up on a hill not too far away. What looked like several different figures in capes and spandex were flying or running or riding about in the city. Danny wondered how in the world a place like that was here.

To the left of this bright shiny sky was a grey looking sky, with grey looking clouds and a gleaming grey sun. But nothing seemed depressed; the area just had an almost old movie black-and-white style feel to it. The ground was littered with parks and old toys. People happily roamed through the scene. Danny could see a young boy no more than 5 playing with one of the toy trains, a mother and her son flying a kite together, and a child about 8 and a small dog playing fetch.

There seemed to be a slightly more vivid area behind it, but somehow darker and rainy, though the rain never made it far enough down to wet anything. People roamed here too, but they seemed sadder, more lonley.

Of in the distance, behind all this, was and area of complete darkness that spanned behind both skys. Danny couldn't make out anything in it, but in the darkness seemed to float the eyes of the ghost that sent them here. Danny shuddered as they swiveled up to him. He could sense the grin behind those eyes and he wasn't happy about it.

He floated back down to the ground before he even looked at the other areas. He knew which way they probably had to go.

That ghost wouldn't let them out of here unless it was by force.

"Well?" Mr. Lancer asked, "Do you know the way out?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

Danny explained to Lancer what he had seen. The man looked over his shoulder and sighed. "This is going to be a long walk or a short flight, isn't it?"

Danny nodded.

Lancer grimaced. "Ok then, just don't drop me."

Danny picked Mr. Lancer up by the arms and flew fast toward the darkness. As he went, he examined the ground below him.

Everything seemed to be in its own strange order. File cabinets floated past with things like "students" and "co-workers" written on them. The books were stacked seemingly in their own categories. Upon closer inspection, all the desks, with or without papers on them, were labeled "To Do:" and then either 1st through 7th period.

They flew on like that, Danny close to the ground for Lancer's sake, dodging floating file cabinets and giant meat products until they came upon the old movie area.

"The darkness is right behind this place. If we make sure to fly straight through it, we'll be going straight for that darkness. It's the fastest way there.

"You're sure this ghost will be there?" Lancer asked.

"Pretty sure. It seems like the kind of place a fear ghost would stay you know."

"I suppose," Lancer agreed.

As the flew past the boy playing with a train Danny noticed that he was doing the same thing, over and over, like a clip on repeat. Lancer made a strangled noise.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked, looking down at his teacher. Lancer's face had gone white.

"Th-That's me!" he choked out.

"The kid?" Danny asked, stopping abruptly to stare at the boy.

"Yes," Lancer said, "I remember that was my favorite toy when I was little."

At his words, color filled the boy and the train and Danny blinked and looked down at the man he was carrying. The boy's eyes were the same color as his teachers.

The boy started talking.

"Choo choo! Yay train go! Go! You can make it up that hill! Choo choo!" The boy clapped and giggled before resuming pushing his toy along.

"Why is he… you… whatever… here?" Danny asked.

Lancer shrugged the best he could in his position. "I have no id-" But he stopped abruptly. "That's my _mother_!"

Danny traced Lancer's gaze to the woman flying a kite with a boy Danny realized looked like a 7-year-old version of the boy playing with the train. Light flooded into mother and son as they flew their kite. The two broke their endless circle as the 7-year-old Lancer ran far ahead of his mom. It was like they were watching a film as the mother disappeared "off screen."

"Mommy mommy look at it go!"

"Be careful sweetie," the disembodied voice of his mother warned kindly, "You don't want to get it caught in a tree."

The boy ran back to his mother as the image faded to grey again and the two figures resumed their endless circle of kite flying.

Lancer shook his head. "Why is this here?"

"Let's keep moving," Danny suggested, weirded out by the image of his teacher as a young child. He always thought of Lancer as his old, balding English teacher. He had never entertained the fact that teacher's had childhoods like anyone else. He realized that he had the same approach to all adults in his life. He had never imagined any of them as young children, just shorter versions of their adult selves.

He felt kind of guilty about it too.

Shaking his head, he continued, "We'll find out when we find that ghost."

They flew on, Danny ignoring the rest of the memories as they flashed by in alternating random color and grayness. It felt almost like he was seeing something far too private.

When the came upon the darker area of movie-like Lancer memories (because that's what every one of those had been, Lancer's memories), Danny couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.

He glanced over at the field of memories and what he saw made him stop short. A high school aged Lancer presented a large bouquet of beautiful flowers to a curly haired girl. She sneered, turned around, and walked away. Young Lancer was left looking absolutely downcast as tears came to his eyes.

Feeling like he had now seen _far_ too much, Danny abruptly veered to the right and out of the grey area into the comic book city.

"I… I'm sorry Mr. Lancer… I didn't…" Danny was at a loss of what to say.

Lancer said nothing just swallowed and nodded. The two flew on in silence through the city. Lancer hadn't expected to be shown his memories like that. He had no clue why they were in this place. It seemed that ever since the were sent here things had centered on him. His memories, all those books he had read, even those desks had some papers on them he knew he was grading for his classes.

Where in the _world_ were they?

Suddenly Danny arched upward as something zoomed right through where they had just been flying. They had just narrowly avoided being hit from behind by whatever that had been.

"Woah!" Danny said, "What was that?"

The streak stopped and turned. Lancer's eyes widened.

It was him.

Well, it was a 12-year-old him, wearing a superman suit and somehow... flying?

"_You_!" he exclaimed, pointing at Danny, "Where are you taking this citizen you villains _cur_?" He posed dramatically, non-existent wind making his hair and cape wave.

"What? I'm not a villain! You have it all wrong!"

"Silence sinister _scoundrel_! Release that man at _once_! Or I shall be forced to facilitate his freedom _forcibly_!"

"Ok ok!" Danny said, floating towards the ground, "See, I'm putting him down. I'm not evil." Lancer's feet touched solid ground and Danny relinquished his grip.

"You're not?" Super-Lancer asked, his voice no longer dramatic, "_Cool_! You can be," he resumed a dramatic pose and voice, "my _sidekick_!" The boy rushed forward, grabbing Danny by the arm and flying off across the city.

"No wait! You don't undersaaaa-" Danny yelled, as he was forcibly dragged off..

They were out of sight in a matter of seconds and Lancer was left alone on the street corner. The man made to run after them but was stopped by yet another version of himself, this time in a Flash costume.

"Allow me to help you cross the street old man! It's safer that way!" the 11-year-old Flash-Lancer said, taking hold of his older-self's arm. Lancer prickled with indignation.

"I am not an _old man_!" Lancer yelled, wrenching is arm out of his younger, stranger-self's grip.

His double looked downcast and Lancer sighed.

"Alright, you can help me," he said, "But not to cross the street. I need to find someone. A boy, in black and white, with a D on his chest."

The Flash-Lancer brightened up. "A search and rescue! Oh I am _so_ there!" He seized Lancer by the arm and threw him on his back.

"Wait! I don't remember The Flash having super strength," Lancer said, taken aback.

"He doesn't. But I'm not the Flash. I'm Speedster, _duh_!"

"Oh, how silly of me," Lancer replied, his tone thick with sarcasm Speedster didn't seem to catch.

"Yeacoolwhatever."

And with that the two rocketed off into the streets, on the search for Danny, Lancer vaguely wondering how he didn't burn to a crisp from friction.

* * *

Hehehe. I keep imagining flash and super Lancers and they make me giggle.

Yea, so I hope to be updating semi-regularly now that it's summer time. Again, I'm eternally sorry for the long update wait. I blame too much school and stress.

Review and flame! I enjoy both!

Tootles!


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer:**_** See! I told you I'd update more regularly! Bwahahahahahahaha!**

_**Have you gotten sleep recently?**_

**Nope! Went to bed at 4, got woken up at 8:30 to hold a ladder while my mom cleaned out the gutters! Hehe!**

_**Uh oh… she's loosing it. Well, more than she already has.**_

_**Should we help her Lamia?**_

_**We'll just thank the reviewers and get this going… I think miss crazy over here needs to get her head shrunk.**_

_**That would look horrible… her head is the perfect size!**_

_**(**_**Deadpan**_**) You're a genius Laelia. **_

_**Thank you!**_

_**(**_**Rolls eyes**_**) Alright then! Crazy writer lady would like to thank **__**story teller, Esme Phantom, inukagome15, and Moony's Metamorphmagus. She thinks you all are wonderful and wants to thank you for waiting so long for the next chapter. Unfortunately she's a little… (**_**Looks over**_**)**_

**(**_**Sitting with a silly grin on her face**_**) SquirrelGirl13 can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message after the beep... BEEP! **

_**Riiight… Onto the story then.**_

**I like squirrels!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Lancer and his double sped through the city, Speedster jabbering to him nonstop. Apparently his mouth was as fast as his feet.

The city was very interesting. The building were straight out of both comic books and cartoons. There were a few random people, but every now and then he'd see a younger version of himself riding by in a cowboy outfit on a horse just his size, or in a police outfit cuffing a stereotypical masked burglar.

The city also couldn't decide if it was night or day. In some areas of the city it was night, in some the sun was just rising, in others it was noon or sunset. It all made the English teacher very confused.

They had gotten no more than four minutes travel in before they heard an alarm blaring off into the distance.

"The First National Bank is being robbed!" exclaimed Speedster, "I'm sorry dude but we must take action!"

"Who _talks_ like that?" Lancer muttered. But before he could say that they had to find Danny, Speedster was off, Lancer still clinging for dear life onto his back. He was starting to like Danny's flying more and more

When they arrived at the bank, Speedster stopped short, Lancer falling off and landing hard on the ground.

"Sorry my friend, but there's evil afoot!"

The teacher watched him run off to stop an equally fast blur of grey escaping the bank. Both stopped facing each other and Lancer realized that the blur was actually another Lancer of the same age and with the exact same suit as Speedster except in a grey color pallet instead of red and gold.

"Give it up Nitro!" Speedster called, "You'll never bet me!"

"Maybe not on my own!" He called, "But see what happens when you meet my teammates!" Nitro gestured dramatically to the bank doors, which blew off their hinges as if on cue, revealing a group of villainous looking Lancer copies.

The teacher didn't know how much more of this he could take.

The youngest was a boy in a black and white cape and matching top hat. He looked like a cheesy stage magician right out of a cartoon. He even had a curling mustache despite being no more than 10 years old. He seemed to be carrying a teddy bear in one arm.

Beside him was a 8-year-old Lancer with a lion pelt draped around himself like a cape and dressed in animal skins and a Lancer no older than 13 in an outfit clearly ripping-off the villainous Two-Face. Half his face was even mutilated.

"Ghost, Huntsman and Fate?" Speedster exclaimed, "You're working with Nitro!"

"For now," Fate replied, flipping his coin and glancing at it.

"Do not fear my speedy _friend_," came a voice from above them. Mr. Lancer looked up to see the super-Lancer drop from the sky.

"We're here to help!" said another voice, and Lancer switched his gaze to the top of the bank building where a 8- year old version of himself posed in a robin hood outfit, complete with bow and arrows.

"Super-kid and Arrow!" Nitro hissed, "No!"

"Not just them," came a slightly deeper voice from the alley off to Lancer's right. Yet another Lancer copy, the same age as Super-Kid, stepped out in a Batman costume, trying very hard to keep that famous Batman composure.

"So it's four against four now!" Speedster observed with a smile.

"Not quite!" Ghost cackled, throwing his bear up into the air and whispering something Mr. Lancer couldn't hear.

The bear twisted and bulged for a few seconds before growing to an enormous height, taller than the bank next to it.

"Forward!" Huntsman yelled, his voice slightly high pitched.

The two teams clashed, chaos ensuing. Lancer backed as far away from the action as he could.

He had to find Danny and get out of here. This place was going to drive him insane with all the copies of himself running around. But Super-Kid was here. So where was Danny?

Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder and spun quickly around.

"_The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby_! Where have you been?"

His student cringed and put a finger to his lips but it was too late. Super-Kid looked down at the two.

"Aah! My _sidekick_! Inviso-Bill!"

Danny muttered curses under his breath before calling up to the kid, "I'm taking this citizen to safety!"

"Good work _Bill_!" The boy said dramaticly. He turned to the Lancer in the batman suit and grinned and in a childish, much less dramatic voice said, "See! My sidekick is better than yours, Nightflyer."

"My sidekick could kick you sidekick's butt!" Nightflyer shot back, sticking his tongue out at his ally.

"Oh _yea_?"

"_Yea_!"

The two started to wrestle with each other as Danny picked his teacher up and flew off with him.

It had taken him less than a minute to phase out of the young Lancer's grip and disappear. But by the time he had and gotten back to where he had set down Lancer, the man was gone. He had flew around the city as fast as he could before he found his teacher, running into a ton of Lancerr copies on the way.

He didn't think he'd ever live down the horror of seeing superpowered miniatures of his English teacher.

"What happened back there?" He asked Mr. Lancer.

The man shook his head. "I don't have a clue," he admitted, "I'm thoroughly confused."

"You and me both."

Danny looked up at the mass of darkness they were quickly approaching.

"Are we really heading into that?" Lancer asked.

"We have to," Danny answered, "It's where I saw the ghost that trapped us here. Wherever _here_ is…"

They flew on in silence the rest of the way, which didn't take them too long. Danny touch downed on the ground not ten minutes later.

"Well this place looks pleasant," Mr. Lancer muttered.

The darkness seemed to swirl at a barrier that wouldn't let it cross. The dark smoky shadows of the place curled out towards the two, as though trying to reach them and suck them in. Both Danny and Mr. Lancer backed away slightly.

In front of them appeared an archway inlayed with a strange phrase.

_Lasciate ogni speranza Voi che entrate_

"What does that mean?" Danny asked. He had no idea what language that even was. He floated up to the words, tracing the letters. Maybe it was a code of some sort…

He shot back as shadows reached out for him, blasting one with an ecto-ray, causing it to scuttle back into itself.

"It's Italian," Lancer said, walking slowly to the archway. Danny floated down to him, keeping charged a ball of ecto energy. The shadows bent away from the light, almost like they were silently screaming.

"Yea, but what does it mean?"

"Lasciate ogni speranza Voi che entrate," Lancer said. Danny blinked confusedly. Did Lancer actually expect him to know what that meant?

"Abandon every hope, all who enter here," the teacher translated. Danny looked up at the shadows twisting and slithering ominously above them. Lancer did the same, chuckling a bit as though trying to get his nerve back. "It's from Dante's _Inferno_, above the gates to hell."

"Hell?" Danny asked, disbelieving, "Are you trying to tell me we're at the gate to hell?" He looked at the swirling shadows again. He didn't quite believe this was hell. Though he supposed it was ominous enough.

"Well, if it is, it's definitely not how it was described." Lancer laughed nervously again at his attempt at a joke and approached the archway. Danny powered up a second blast. He wasn't going to be taken by surprise by some hell ghost.

When Lancer stood in the archway he looked over his shoulder at Danny. "Do ghosts always transport people to other dimensions?" he asked, "Because, the past two seem to like doing just that."

"No," Danny answered, "Though most do like obsessing over stuff. It's a ghost thing I guess. This one seems to like scaring things."

Lancer was about to ask what it was Danny obsessed over, but thought better of it. That probably wouldn't sound like the joke he would have meant it to be, not with this place spouting those evil looking misty shadows everywhere.

Lancer turned and walked slowly through the archway, immensely grateful for the glow of Danny's ecto-blast. It was so dark, the kind of dark with not even a hope of a light source. Danny's energy spheres were not doing much to dismiss the utter blackness, but they were light and Lancer knew that light was the only reason he could stand in these shadows and not run terrified. He had conquered his fear of the dark late in life, around his freshman year of college, but he had not dispelled it completely.

Danny looked around as he walked forward.

"This doesn't look like hell to me," Danny said, holding his ball of light up higher. "It's just a bunch of nothing." He walked around in a circle, holding the ecto-ball at all angles. No objects or shadows caught the light. "Absolutely nothing."

Suddenly there was a noise like nails on a chalkboard. Danny saw Lancer jump almost a foot in the air. "What was that?" the teacher asked, panic in his voice.

At the teacher's words, there was a purple glow and chalkboards illuminated all around them, every one of them with complex math equations that Danny only ever saw in the calculations for his parents inventions. Lancer stood deathly still in the center, his eyes on the closest chalkboard.

"This now looks much more like hell," he told Danny, his wide eyes never leaving the chalkboard. Danny looked around.

"It's just math; it's not like we have to _do_ the problems. Let's-"

At his words however, the chalkboard Lancer was staring at floated closer to rest in front to the two. Lancer took a few steps back and chalk lines sprung off the other chalkboards to wall the teacher, student, and math problem in

Lancer looked at Danny. "I don't suppose there's any chance of getting out of this is there?"

Danny looked up at the glowing purple chalk that trapped them. He shot off a blast and the cocoon glowed brighter, absorbing the ecto-energy into itself. "Probably not," Danny answered, "I don't want to see what that thing'll do if I touch it. It looks like we have to do the problem to get out. But don't look at me; I have no idea what half of that even means."

Danny saw Lancer swallow hard as the man walked cautiously up to the chalkboard. His hand hovered over the chalk as he stared blankly up at the problem.

"I won't be able to do this," he mumbled. Danny assumed he was talking more to himself than to Danny, but responded anyway.

"Well, we're never going to get anywhere if no one does it. I guess let me try, I've seen something like this-" But wherever he had seen it was cut off as the cocoon launched darting chalk tentacles straight at Danny.

The boy ducked and, in a move Lancer had seen before during the Eclipse incident, caught the things in his hands.

But more came shooting after him. Lancer rushed forward, batting away and pulling at those he could. But they eventually overwhelmed the two and Danny was lifted off the ground, still struggling fiercely, and mummified so that only his blazing green eyes shone angrily out of the chalk wrappings.

Danny said something but it was too muffled for Lancer to hear. The teacher tried in vain to jump high enough to get at his student. His fingers almost brushed Danny's trapped toes, but the boy was held just out of his reach.

He turned to the chalkboard before glancing back at Danny.

"Ok, I guess I vaguely remember where to start this… but I can't for the life of me figure out what to do." He picked up the chalk and stared at the problem for a full minute before continuing. "I guess I could add these things here… and divide that by this here… that would be… four…" Lancer scribbled a small 4 on the chalkboard. "And… if I knew what that symbol meant… why do they have to have random symbols? It makes no-"

But before he could finish, the cocoon lost its glow and tumbled down around them, the chalkboards disappearing with a pop. Danny was dropped and fell a few feet before catching himself.

"What the… why did it go and do that?" Danny asked. "You didn't finish the problem."

"I'm not completely sure," Lancer said. He looked around him. The room had fallen into utter darkness again.

Lancer shook his head. He had been scared of even trying the problem, knowing he could never figure it out. He had been terrified that he would be stuck there forever with no way out. He had to admit he would have rather left screaming than face this place. If he had been alone, he never would have gone for it.

But Danny. Danny had been in trouble, and he wasn't about to let one of his students get trapped forever in some freaky fear realm. He couldn't fail one of his student's again. It was that, and that alone, then made him even attempt the problem.

Was that what he had to do?

"I think that maybe all I had to do was try the problem," Lancer mused, sticking the chalk in his pocket.

"Well that was stupid," Danny remarked, "What was the point in that?"

But Lancer smiled to himself. He hadn't tried a math problem that was any more complicated than his taxes since his freshman year of college, when he stopped having to take math lessons.

Abruptly, the room started to dissolve around them, and the two were left standing in the halls of Casper High. "Are we back then?" Lancer wondered aloud. He looked at Danny and the boy shrugged.

"I have no idea. It _looks_ like it but… something just feels… off. And something tells me it wouldn't be that easy to get out of-"

Before Danny could finish his sentence, Lancer heard that nails-on-chalkboard sound again and spun around, wondering what sort of problems he would have to do now.

The sight he beheld made his stomach sink. He backed away, his eyes wide.

It couldn't be!

He was dead!

* * *

Hahaha! I feel so evil

So, like always, review! Or flame and be at peace.

_What does that even mean?_

I have _no_ idea! (_laughs maniacally_)

_(_makes cooko cooko clock noises_)_

(_grumbles_) You're next.

Oh! And I have a new challenge! Draw any of the super or villian Lancers! I'd love to see what you guys thought they looked like!

So, fare thee well and I shall update INUS soon!


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